


Once Upon a December

by RideBoldlyRide



Category: Anastasia (1997), RWBY
Genre: F/M, I'm combining the play and the movie elements, RWBY/Anastasia crossover, Team STRQ - Freeform, quarantine self-indulgence, totally a feel-good thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23239864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RideBoldlyRide/pseuds/RideBoldlyRide
Summary: A young Summer Rose is raised by her parents, the current king and queen of Vale to be their successor... Only for her entire family to be killed, and her favored grandfather to be whisked away, in one night.And one more thing- she doesn't remember a thing.That is, until a street-wise conman who's pulled one too many fast ones, on the wrong people, crosses paths with her in an attempt to find the lost Princess.
Relationships: Ozpin & Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen & Raven Branwen, Qrow Branwen & Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen/Summer Rose, Raven Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Tyrian Callows & Salem
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is SO freaking self-indulgent. 
> 
> I've been stuck inside with a stir crazy toddler, trying to practice social distancing. (dear God, I'm going insane) So I decided to write this for the sake of my sanity. 
> 
> It's not my best writing, and it's not going to be. There'll be more chapters, this is just the intro. 
> 
> I'm kind of combining the movie (1997 one) and the Broadway, because I am such a sucker for Broadway. And there's some elements that are just masterful in the Broadway, despite how much I love the movie. 
> 
> So, yeah. Hopefully this is as much a guilty pleasure for you as it is for me. Stay safe and stay healthy please, guys!

The Grand Hall of Vale's newest master piece, glittered and glimmered in the moonlight, a testament to both it's wise king, and his latest victories. Not only had he succeeded in the battlefield, bringing all opposing forces to heel, he had brought all the forces under a new banner.

His. 

It had been a long battle, spanning multiple generations. Beginning under his grandfather's rule, the most stalwart foe, the kingdom of Solitas, had finally buckled only at the very end. Inside the grand hall, elites of every nation spun and twirled, dined and chatted, but the king was happily engaged in his own battle of wit and will. 

Not even 9 years old, his daughter danced about him, challenging every step he took. 

"Summer! Let me lead!" He tried to be stern, but his renowned stoicism at the negotiations table failed him before his daughter. 

"Why? Why should you lead, when I'm just as good?"

A white brow rose, challengingly.

"Just as good, eh? If that's so, you should be able to glide through these steps easily." 

Without a further word, he shifted the dance from the simple step into something more complex, unheeding of his daughter's footwork. Within a short few moments, they bounced off each other repeatedly, toes were squished, and by the end, both sets of shoes were irreparably scuffed. Finishing his stepwork, he took a bow, finally met his daughter's eyes. 

She stood with arms crossed, looking vexed. 

"I thought you were good?" The king teased mercilessly. 

A small humph escaped the young girl, but the frustration readily left at the appearance of her grandfather. Instead, a bright smile spread, and she bolted away to him, her father's laughter chasing after. 

"Grandpa! You came!"

The older man smiled, readjusting the small spectacles perched on his nose. 

"Of course, little one! Your father's victory is a grand cause for celebration."

She embraced him tightly, and he gently patted the top of her head. 

"How long will you be staying?"

"Not very long, dearest."

Silver eyes peered up at him, pleadingly. 

"Do you have to go to Mistral? If you go, I want to go with you!"

The older man was as weakened by the stubborn intensity of the young girl as her father had been. His eyes glinted as his smile reached them. 

"Here." 

A hand slipped into his pocket of his waistcoat, reemerging with something that caught the diffuse lights on it's many edges. Turning his hand, a long silver looped chain descended, ending in a clean faced watch. Eyes widened, and Summer reached for it eagerly. Rolling it around in her hands, she studied it enthusiastically. On its back, etched into it's surface, a city scape sprawled. Silver eyes squinted after it, and then widened as it made connections. Looking back up at the older man, she gasped.

"Mistral?!"

His smile grew.

"Yes, my dear girl."

"Does this mean...?"

He nodded before she was finished. 

"Once this season's training is complete, you'll join me there."

The young girl gushed with joy, rushing off to the rest of her family. Glittering and glowing, the party moved around them, distancing the family from any observers. 

A scraggly young boy, just over the tip of ten, watched in amazement at the glimmer and the gossamer, crimson eyes wide. From his stolen time and vantage point he was in position to observe the celebration in all it's glory. He heard fragments, saw smears of color and light, but it was so foreign to him, the finite details smudged in his memory. But it would not be one easily forgotten.

"Qrow!" 

A booming voice echoed after him, and he cowered away, turning back to his duties in the kitchen. But he wouldn't make it back.

Thunder struck nearby, and it rumbled through the grand hall. It's proximity seemed to chill the room's inhabitants, and they pulled away from the walls. When it seemed that the one roll of thunder was all to be heard, the crowd began to move again. Then a loud crash echoed, as the front doors, that had taken many men to close, flung wide. 

A lone figure stood in the doorway. 

Clad in black and red, her white skin was laced with the same crimson of her accents. As she moved, the musicians silenced and the conversation hushed. Easily, as if being parted by giant invisible hands, the crowd split, allowing her to move steadily to the king and his royal family. 

"So I see that my help garnished me no favor."

While she spoke no louder than a speaking voice, her words echoed into each ear, as though she was speaking to them alone. Blackened eyes, and crimson pupils drilled into the mighty king as he stood defiant between her and his family. 

"I never asked for your help."

"But you accepted it, nonetheless."

"I didn't stop you and your creatures. That doesn't mean I accepted your offer."

She waved a hand dismissively, one side of her lips pulled into a sneer. 

"Technicalities, saved solely for face at the treatise table."

She leaned in to stare him down. 

"You owe your victory to me."

He sneered in return. 

"Believe as you will. I cannot and will not change your perception. What have you come for?"

A nonplussed look settled across her expressions. 

"My share in the victory, of course."

"There is no share to be ha--"

"But I see that there is no victory here. I would not get my portion even if I demanded it."

For the first time, the king seemed taken aback. 

"What are you talking about?"

"You didn't feel it?" She purred. "It was in the air of the city, in the whispers in the corners. 'This victory is late, this war was neverending'."

She smiled at the confusion written across his face. 

"You sit in your crystal palace, and yet your people hold the stones. They will shatter you and yours. And when they're through, as my reward, I will crush what little there remains of you and your family."

She smiled, and turned to leave as abruptly as she had arrived. Over her shoulder, she threw her last parting blow. 

"Enjoy your victory for tonight. For tomorrow, there will be nothing left."

* * *

In that night, the people rioted, it's land writhing against it's leaders. The king fell that night, along with his family. Only the grandfather survived, and only barely, while attempting to save his granddaughter as they fled. In the panic, she was torn from him. He heard the shot fired, but saw no more of Summer. 

The king of Vale's line had been destroyed, his own father in hiding across the world in Mistral. He was all that was left.

Or so the world believed.

Until one day, a simple notice went out:

 **MISSING**  
The Princess of Vale  
Summer Rose


	2. A Rumor in Vale

_ Ten Years Later _

The people had rioted, thrown off the bonds of royalty, and embraced a rule by the populace. A small group of "common folk" lined up to take on the role as the people's representatives from the militant few that had caused the upheaval. Only, as the days and weeks stretched to months, it seemed the militant few refused to relinquish their control. To make matters worse, one by one, the "common folk" became "commonly missing". 

Conditions that had begun to make an upswing directly after the fall of the monarchy, rapidly declined as the militant few held direct control over the food, water, toiletries and other necessities needed for survival. Soon, all the common folk that held no ties to the new government were left to scrounge, bite and claw for what little there was left. 

The kingdom of Vale, once held up as a bastion of hope, fell into itself, a shell of it's prior glory. In a vain attempt to keep out the ruling class of generations prior and their lackeys (and keep any unhappy dissenters in) they held tight reins over the borders, and in some cases, closed them entirely. Vale was an island to itself, they claimed, utterly independent. 

The common folk agreed, begrudgingly, as they once more ate upon the same meal, from the small rations they had been allotted. 

Often, the people would find their small break from the drudgery of their daily routine, by indulging in juicy gossip. And thus, an ember was lit. 

It started small, one person whispering to another. But in dry tinder, fires build fast. 

"I hear they never found her body."

"Whose?"

"The Princess. Summer Rose."

A gratifying gasp, followed by scuttle butt as the word quickly spread, morphing as it went.

"They never found her body," became "she's still alive! My cousin saw her last week," became "you heard her grandfather is still looking for her. I bet anyone bringing that princess to him would be paid. _Handsomely._ "

And thus, it found its way to the eager ear of a young conman.

"You say 'handsomely'? Any concept as to the amount?"

The older vendor leaned forward conspiratorially. "A king's ransom, I hear."

A small smirk pulled at the young man's face, even as his crimson eyes sparkled. 

"Indeed. Well, if you happen to run across the lost princess, you know which way to send her!"

Bellowing a friendly laugh, the old man turned away and back to his wares. It wasn't unheard of for urchins to run off with his meager offerings while he was otherwise preoccupied. 

"You've got it, Qrow!"

The young man tossed a coin to the vendor before pocketing the apple. There were times in his life where pocketing versus paying would mean life over death, but the old man was a comrade and a source. And currently? Well, Qrow's latest job had turned out to be decently profitable. At least for him. 

A cloud passed over his expression as he moved towards the picked over remains of a palace he and Raven called home. His thoughts were otherwise preoccupied with the escape from Vale, when he stepped around the fence, under the loose board and into the soft glow of candlelight that illuminated the long-empty kitchen pantry of the palace. Its accommodations were far more generous than the sliver of a carpet he slept on for the early part of his life. 

He had always been an urchin, living off the streets. For portions of his childhood, he was a match seller, a farm hand, an errand boy. Even for a short time, he worked in the kitchens of the palace. That was quickly cut short by the hand of revolution. 

For the next six months, he had meandered, slept on the streets, stole to eat. Then he happened to pick a pocket of a young woman with eyes as red as his own. She had been ten years his senior, world-wise in a way he hadn't seen on the street anywhere else. 

She caught him with his hand still in her pocket. 

Twisting his thumb, she discreetly escorted him to a nearby alley. Her words were like hot smoke in his ear.

"You make a sound, kid, and I'll call down the police on you so fast, you won't know what hit you. Understand?"

He had nodded sagely.

"Good. Now smile like you mean it. You and I are just siblings out for a friendly stroll." 

Swallowing down his fear, he twisted his face into a reasonable facsimile of familial camaraderie. They had slipped down an alleyway and into a hidden slot, barely big enough to hold them both. A dagger was at his throat before he recognized it. If fear had not sent his heart beating into his throat, he would have found both her fluidity of persona and skill with a weapon impressive. But it was difficult to maintain appreciation with a dagger to your jugular. 

Older eyes drilled into his own. 

"You're quick."

Feigning indifference to his position, he shrugged bonelessly. 

"Only the quick survive."

A smirk pulled at her lips. "And fast at the lip. How good are you with a cover?"

"Cover?"

"Cover story. Fake identity. Persona."

"Never had to do that before."

Her crimson eyes sparkled. "I think you'll be a quick study."

A hand shifted and the dagger disappeared as quickly as it had emerged. Instead, an empty hand extended in front of him. Qrow fought the urge to rub at his neck, as he met her outstretched hand. 

"Raven. Once upon a time, it was _Countess_ Raven Branwen. And with your help, maybe one day, it will be again."

Thus began a mutually beneficial relationship that grew into a close friendship. Qrow, who had never had a last name to speak of, ended up taking on hers, along with the correlation of being a sibling. Together, the two perfected the art of being what they weren't. 

And what often followed behind: dissatisfied customers. 

They were reaching a point of oversaturation; most knew their gigs in the area, and while Vale used to be a city big enough to hide in, the country had shifted along with the government. Vale was becoming too small. But with this new information, Qrow had a new idea.

He came across Raven, her dark hair now strikingly streaked with gray, leaned over a notepad, in the dim light of a candle. 

"Have you heard the latest?"

"Let me guess, another 'officer' gone missing?"

"Better. People are assuming that the Princess Summer Rose is still alive."

A dark brown rose, and her eyes flicked, nonplussed, towards him. 

"Joy."

"No, Rae, think about this! They say that the old grandfather will pay a king's ransom to anyone who brings his granddaughter back to him…"

"You know where she is?"

A scoff escaped.

"With her parents and siblings, down the river." With a wave of the hand, he dismissed her question. "That's not the point. We don't have to bring the _actual_ princess--"

"--just someone who looks and acts like her." Raven's eyes lit up. 

Putting down her pen, she rounded the table, eyes flicking back and forth as she contemplated. 

"Dress her up, teach her what to say, how to act, then take her to Vale…"

"We'd have to find the perfect girl."

"We'd have to find a way out of Vale."

"We'd have to split the reward. But," the young man smirked, "who else could pull it off but you and me?"

"I'll start the word-- quietly-- to my friends in the right places. See if we can find the right girl."

"Then we just forge some papers-"

"Done that more than once."

"--and teach her what she needs to know along the way. Rae, this could be it! Our way out of this hellhole!"

For the first time in a while, the two saw a glimmer of hope. In celebration, Raven retrieved a stashed bottle of wine, and together, the makeshift siblings poured over family trees, diaries and the like through the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shelter in place is a lot more challenging with a toddler than normal day to day life, because my sanctuary away from home while my little one is being watched is currently closed. So... Time to write had been scarce. Hope you enjoy what I do get around to... XD   
> Thanks to all you beautiful people for both the kudos and the comments!! You guys are what keeps me going! <3


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